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Friday, June 29, 2012

Full House Votes to Hold Atty. Gen. Holder in Contempt

Washington, DCThursday, June 28, 2012

Following last
week's vote in the House Oversight Committee, the House voted to hold
Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress for his role in the
investigation into the "Fast and Furious" program.
The final vote
was 255-67, with two Republicans voting nay. Those votes were from Rep.
Scott Rigell (R-VA) and Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH). 17 Democrats
voted in favor of the resolution.
Later, the House voted 258-95,
with five lawmakers voting “present,” in favor of the second contempt of
Congress resolution against Holder. This resolution is known as
the “civil” contempt resolution, which authorizes the House to initiate
judicial proceedings against the Attorney General to force him to comply
with the subpoenas for the documents.
Attorney General Eric
Holder responded to today's House vote from the U.S. Attorney’s Office
in New Orleans. He called the charges "reckless," and the investigation
misguided and politically motivated.
The Department of Justice and
the House leadership were in talks to prevent the vote until early
Wednesday morning, when the AP reported they failed to reach an
agreement.
The House Oversight Committee, under the leadership of
Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA), is seeking documents relating to the "Fast
and Furious" program in which guns sold in South-Western states were
tracked in hopes of tracing them to leaders of drug rings across the
border in Mexico. Guns in the program were later used in several crimes,
including the murder of a Border Patrol Agent.
The Justice
Department argues that it has already provided all the relevant
documents, except those that cover ongoing investigations. The White
House announced that it was seeking executive privilege in withholding
some of the documents just before the House Committee met last week.
Members
of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and
Progressive Caucuses, as well as other members, walked off of the House
floor during the vote to hold Holder in contempt of Congress.
During
the daily White House briefing on Wednesday, Press Secretary Jay Carney
said the investigation was politically motivated and that the White
House and Justice Department had made numerous overtures to try to
resolve the issue, but that Congress wasn't interested in a quiet
resolution.
In an investigation by Fortune Magazine, released
Wednesday, the reporters detail an agency caught between federal
oversight and state gun laws that prevented the success of the
operation. Arizona gun laws do not prevent the purchase of multiple
guns, require no waiting periods, and allow the resale of weapons.
Under the law, the ATF agents had to prove that the guns were purchased
with the intent to commit a crime.
The House is expected to pass the resolution to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress on a largely party-line vote.